Entertainment
Towie’s Demi Sims: Glee’s Santana and Brittany were my Heartstopper: ‘It made me feel more accepted’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
‘It’s important for teenagers to watch shows where love is love no matter what gender.’
In 2022, Heartstopper arrived on Netflix, and everything changed.
It was an absolute gift for LGBTQ+ teens and young people, centering around two teenage boys who figure out their feelings for each other, without any death, disaster or gratuitous cruelty.
For LGBTQ+ people who had grown up before, positive representation of same-sex couples were rare – but they did exist, and they were vital.
As Pride month comes to a close, Metro.co.uk are catching up with LGBTQ+ people about the on-screen romances that meant everything to them growing up.
We’ve had Skins’ Emily and Naomi, Six Feet Under’s Keith and David, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Willow and Tara.
Today we speak to The Only Way Is Essex star Demi Sims, who came out as bisexual at 19 and has been open, honest and unapologetic about her sexuality since.
Demi has offered brilliant bisexual representation as fans watched her date and fall in love with girls on reality TV, including on Celebs Go Dating and Eating With My Ex.
Demi has gone on to appear in the likes of Towie, Celebs Go Dating and Eating With My Ex, offering more bisexual representation to young LGBTQ+ people (Picture: Getty)Demi, 25, didn’t have Heartstopper as a closeted teenager, but she did have something else: Santana and Brittany in Glee.
They began as friends, moving on to friends with benefits before starting a proper romantic relationship before, finally, getting married in a double same-sex wedding alongside Kurt and Blaine.
The marriage episode aired in February 2015 – before same-sex marriage was even legal in the United States.
Brittany and Santana were one of the first on-screen same-sex couples Demi discovered as a teenager (Picture: Getty/ Fox)Demi found it ‘so important’ to find a show where ‘love is love no matter what gender’
Reality star Demi discovered Glee when she was ‘so young’, and was entranced by the way it portrayed same-sex couples and LGBTQ+ characters, particularly Santana and Brittany.
‘When I was a teenager and I wasn’t out yet, watching that was like the first gay, lesbian couple that I had seen in a show,’ she recalled.
While she wasn’t yet out as bisexual, Demi ‘used to feel so happy inside’ watching Brittany and Santana’s relationship develop in the show, saying it was ‘a really good show to come out back then.’
Demi ‘knew for years’ that she was bisexual before she came out, and seeing gay representation on Glee ‘used to make me feel a little bit more accepted, a little more welcomed.’
Demi says it’s ‘important’ for teens to watch shows where ‘love is love no matter what gender’ (Picture: Getty/ Fox)This representation, few and far between as it used to be, was vital for young LGBTQ+ people as it helped show them a life they could happily live in the future.
‘I wanted to see how they were acting on the show, was it like a “normal” boy-girl relationship? Because I never really saw it [in real life].
‘I’m from a town in Essex and I never really saw two girls going out or two boys going out, it just wasn’t a thing when I was younger.
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‘I feel like it’s important for teenagers to watch shows where love is love no matter what gender, and I feel like that was a really good show [for that].
‘Especially all those years ago.’
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Metro.co.uk celebrates 50 years of Pride
This year marks 50 years of Pride, so it seems only fitting that Metro.co.uk goes above and beyond in our ongoing LGBTQ+ support, through a wealth of content that not only celebrates all things Pride, but also share stories, take time to reflect and raises awareness for the community this Pride Month.
And we’ve got some great names on board to help us, too. From a list of famous guest editors taking over the site for a week that includes Rob Rinder, Nicola Adams, Peter Tatchell, Kimberly Hart-Simpson, John Whaite, Anna Richardson and Dr Ranj, as well as the likes of Sir Ian McKellen and Drag Race stars The Vivienne, Lawrence Chaney and Tia Kofi offering their insights.
During Pride Month, which runs from 1 – 30 June, Metro.co.uk will also be supporting Kyiv Pride, a Ukrainian charity forced to work harder than ever to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community during times of conflict, and youth homelessness charity AKT. To find out more about their work, and what you can do to support them, click here.
For Metro.co.uk‘s latest Pride coverage, click here.
Metro.co.uk celebrates 50 years of Pride
This year marks 50 years of Pride, so it seems only fitting that Metro.co.uk goes above and beyond in our ongoing LGBTQ+ support, through a wealth of content that not only celebrates all things Pride, but also share stories, take time to reflect and raises awareness for the community this Pride Month.
And we’ve got some great names on board to help us, too. From a list of famous guest editors taking over the site for a week that includes Rob Rinder, Nicola Adams, Peter Tatchell, Kimberly Hart-Simpson, John Whaite, Anna Richardson and Dr Ranj, as well as the likes of Sir Ian McKellen and Drag Race stars The Vivienne, Lawrence Chaney and Tia Kofi offering their insights.
During Pride Month, which runs from 1 – 30 June, Metro.co.uk will also be supporting Kyiv Pride, a Ukrainian charity forced to work harder than ever to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community during times of conflict, and youth homelessness charity AKT. To find out more about their work, and what you can do to support them, click here.
For Metro.co.uk‘s latest Pride coverage, click here.
